Federal environmental agencies

Solutions 2013 covers 39 subject areas and is a comprehensive sourcebook for lawmakers, candidates and citizens who are interested in policy solutions. As the name implies, these are the solutions for the issues facing Nevadans — from taxes to education, from energy to labor, from economic development to higher education, and many more.

Last week the U.S. House of Representatives passed the 1,200-page Waxman-Markey "American Clean Energy and Security Act" to impose new taxes on energy use. The bill is a cap-and-trade scheme that would artificially limit the amount of carbon dioxide that can be emitted by energy users from the combustion of fossil fuels. The bill would essentially create an energy rationing scheme that would require energy producers to acquire costly ration coupons for each ton of carbon dioxide they emit.

So many federal agencies have been exposed falsifying environmental data that you have to wonder how many other frauds remain undetected. First came the December revelation that employees of the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Forest Service had planted fake wild lynx hair in states where there were no lynx, so that the areas could be labeled critical habitat, and thus off limits to human use.

In 1997, Nevada’s legislators approved regulations for organic farming in the state. While pesticide-free produce still represents a small portion of agriculture in Nevada and the nation, consumer demand for organically grown fruits and vegetables is rising. Last month the Nevada Division of Agriculture certified organic farms for 1999, and later this year it will be enforcing organic standards for produce sold at farmer’s markets throughout the state. "Going organic" can be good business for some farmers, but unfortunately the growth of this niche market helps spread longstanding myths about pesticides. While the alleged dangers of agricultural chemicals are circulated by environmental groups and their allies in the media, the risks posed by organic produce rarely see print. Herewith, an overview of the hazards associated with organic fruits and vegetables—and an examination of the fictitious perils of pesticides.

The schoolchildren of Nevada and the United States are familiar with a concept known as the "web of life." Marketing this philosophy is a web of another sort. The Sierra Club, Audobon Society, National Wildlife Federation and Nature Conservancy—in conjunction with the EPA, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service, BLM, National Park Service, Eastern foundations and the education establishment—provide questionable information to the nation’s school systems and call it "environmental education."

Nevadans did not plan to deal with high-level nuclear waste shipments until (or if) Yucca Mountain gets approved. But high-level waste is entering the state earlier than expected. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will ship spent nuclear fuel rods from foreign research reactors from Concord through northern Nevada to Idaho Falls starting in 1998. This is not the first time high-level nuclear waste will come through the state, but it is the first time for northern Nevada. All Nevada congressional representatives, along with Governor Miller, have voiced concerns the DOE has yet to tackle. Californians are taking a more active approach—environmentalists and conservative politicians—have joined together to protest the shipments. Nothing can be done to stop the shipments, but politicians are attempting to influence the route the DOE chooses.